Trash Toss AR

Concept to App Store

Augmented Reality iOS App.

We developed Trash Toss AR to showcase our capabilities in developing augmented reality apps. Apple’s release of ARKit marks an important milestone in mobile app experiences. It allows users to place objects in their own environment and experience games, demos, and other experiences customized to their world. We decided to spend time learning how the new technology works, how it can be gamified, and how users would enjoy playing an augmented reality game on mobile.

Quick Prototype

Using What Already Exists.

Sticking to our values of quickly prototyping, learning, and taking apps to market we decided to use existing resources as much as possible. Our team used a theme purchased online to reduce the time needed to create a user interface (we still had to make fairly extensive changes as AR apps need UI elements that standout when the background is a live camera feed) and purchased ready-made 3D assets online (also modified to meet performance and design requirements).

Addictive Gameplay

Making Augmented Reality Fun.

Building regular mobile games is tough. Building augmented reality based mobile games is tougher. Our team needed to account for different environments the game would be played in (surface types, lighting levels, and size based on surrounding objects). We solved most problems by providing the user with suggestive feedback instead of simple error messages. For instance, if there wasn’t enough light in the room, we suggested the user move to a better lit area instead of simply saying there wasn’t enough light. We made game play challenging by creating different modes of gameplay. Users can choose a normal mode where they simply throw paper in a basket, expert mode that adds wind to the equation, and time attack for players who want to race the clock.

Technology.

Continuous Learning

Building More AR Apps.

We built Trash Toss AR to improve our understanding of augmented reality and learn more about creating addictive apps using AR. One of our proudest moments was when we showed the app to an 11 year old who refused to stop playing for 20 minutes, even though he was repeatedly asked to stop. Our team accomplished what we set out to do and continues to develop more augmented reality apps.